I never said that I would stop posting T-Shirts. I’m just a bit more selective with more choices now. Great concept by Christopher D. Bhagwandeen. Personally, I’d leave that Elizabethan collar off of my pet dinosaur.

I’ve always been a fan of the opening credits for AMC’s Mad Men. What’s not to love about falling silhouettes? In the latest BustedTees tee, Superman saves Don Draper from a bad day. Now, THAT might make for a pretty interesting crossover episode. How do you think Lois Lane wold cope as a belittled copywriter?

I don’t think that I’ve ever posted a Queen Amidala T-Shirt on this blog before. That might be because my readership consists of 95% men. At least that’s what Analytics tell me. In any case, here’s a regal red and gold T-Shirt from Her Universe. In truth, I actually like the model and the model’s makeup slightly more than the T-Shirt itself.

As long as there is an Internet there will be dozens of mis-spelled cat memes floating around. Let’s face it, the cat is the official mascot of the Internet. No one or thing is bigger than those furry felines of mischief roaming InternetLAND. Well, maybe Double Rainbow Guy. Don’t be fooled though, everyone in the know acknowledges that Double Rainbow Guy is actually a cat disguised as a human. It’s the same cat that’s behind the Nyan Cat Phenomenon. Trust me.

I’d love to hear which one of these are your favorites and whether or not you own any of these tees! And if you know of a LOL Cat shirt not on this list then please tell me about it. Leave a comment below in the comments section and let me know!

If you enjoyed this post then please, please, please, tell you’re friends about it! A simple Tweet or post on Facebook will help to get the word out, and a link back on your blog would be greatly appreciated!

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It’s been a while since I’ve featured an Abraham Lincoln T-Shirt. What’s the hell is wrong with me. It’s okay, this is fixed with THIS T-shirt designed by Tim Shumate and available now from Threadless. Say hello to thug Abraham Lincoln, complete with tattoos, ear stretchers, and wife beater. Mary Todd Lincoln would be so proud.

By the way, you all should be ready for the barrage of Abe Lincoln tees over the next few months. Why? New movie coming soon, it’s called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. If you haven’t read it yet then you’re missing out.

Looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day T-Shirt? This 8-Bit Dynamic Life T-Shirt might be just what you’re looking for you, especially if you and your significant other loves video games. When the both of you are wearing this interactive tee and within hugging distance then all six pixelated hearts will light up. Likewise, when apart, your heart level will drop down to just two and a half hearts. Awww, how cute.

Staying healthy is the key to keeping yourself alive. Video game characters know this all too well. When your red heart gauge reaches zero… you die. For non-bitmap humans like you this is more of a challenge. But luckily after extensive study at ThinkGeek labs we’ve determined that people feel best when they are in close proximity to something that they adore. Don’t understand? Well luckily for you we’ve created this amazing 8-Bit Dynamic Life Shirt to illustrate.

Buy one of these glowing shirts for yourself, and gift one to your significant other (boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, fembot 2000…). During your normal activities two and a half pixelated hearts will light up on your shirt. Hey… you’re depressed and in need of a recharge. But get within hugging distance of your significant other wearing the matching shirt and suddenly the hearts on both of your shirts start to light up until you’re fully powered up. Go too far astray from the source of your affections and you’ll drop back down to two and a half hearts again. Got it?

The Johnny Cupcakes lecture could not have come at a better time. The theme for the lecture was the notion that “Real success is being happy doing what you love.” I took that to heart. So much so that two days later, I decided that I would quit my day job. Nonsense? Truth. But I am getting a a bit ahead of myself.

Here's a photo of me in my Johnny Cupcakes T-Shirt. I'm excited for the lecture!

The Johnny Cupcakes event was set to kick off at 7pm at the latest Honolulu art hub, Loft In Space. I’ve never been there so I was excited not just to see Johnny Cupcakes, but also to see what the vibe was like at the Loft. I lie. I was 99% excited to see Johnny Cupcakes and maybe 1% excited to see what the vibe was like at the Loft. Nonetheless, I showed up at the Loft In Space about 2 hours before the event. My good friend, Joel, tagged along. It was only fitting since he is the one that takes all of those photos that you see of me in T-Shirts on this website [thanks, Joel]. He also digs Johnny Cucpakes.

You could tell that Johnny Cupcakes is a relatively novel brand in Hawaii since there was practically no line when I arrived. In fact, when a line did start to form about 45 minutes before 7pm, I was at the head of the line. Yep, a T-Shirt blogger at the front of the line to listen to a T-Shirt entrepreneur talk about his brand. Fitting, don’t you think?

Johnny Cupcakes ballons outside of Fresh Cafe / Loft In Space.

Waiting to get in. I was the first in line.

Inside the Loft In Space, Johnny prepares his Pop-Up Shop.

Of course, they let all of us sort of marinate outside of the Loft for a bit before letting us in. Thankfully, the line grew. It grew pretty long. I guess that’s an effect of something that we locals here call “Hawaiian Time.” Everything seems to move a tad bit slower here. Which isn’t necessarily always a bad thing. I was just stoked to see so many likeminded Johnny Cupcakes fans in line here in Hawaii. I was stoked and pumped.

Eventually they did let us into the Loft In Space. The old warehouse behind the Fresh Cafe turned art gallery/lounge is not that big. The place was tightly packed with fans hungry for Cupcakes. When Johnny did come up and take the stage, there was a thunderous applause. It was exciting. The suitcase tour that had eluded our tiny state in the past was finally here. Wow.

Johnny Cupcakes being mobbed. Not really.

Real Success is Being Happy Doing What You Love.

The Johnny Cupcakes Stage.

Johnny, whose real last name is Earle, started off his talk by mentioning some of his early business ideas. He did everything from selling lemonade to holding garage sales (when no one was home) to selling itching powder at school. Each of these examples were filled with anecdotes taken from Johnny’s youth – many of which were hilarious. He was definitely born to be an entrepreneur.

Eventually, Johnny talked about how Johnny Cupcakes was born. How he hustled in the beginning by selling his tees out of his old car and even meeting strangers at the mall to save on shipping costs. He talked about how he lived with his parents for the first few years of Johnny Cupcakes and eventually took over their house with boxes of Johnny Cupcakes stock. From there, he talked about how the brand took off and how he was eventually able to take some risks and rent retail space in his hometown, just a few blocks from his childhood home.

The DJ and Johnny Cupcakes Pop-Up Shop

Johnny promised that he would meet each and everyone that attended. And he did.

When things really took off for Johnny Cupcakes, Johnny the man was able to stay grounded. He talked about how he did not succumb to buying fancy cars or lavish gifts. Instead, he would put his money back into his business. Eventually, he did buy his own home and turned the basement into an old school arcade. That was his gift to himself. No jets, no fancy cars, no opulent mansions, but instead a room full of vintage arcades. That’s awesome and respectable.

The rest of the talk was spent on how you can do things to reinvent your brand. He talked about the importance of being original and doing things that no one else is doing. He talked about the importance of not becoming a fad that will fade quickly. He talked about attention to detail. He talked about the importance of packaging and why it’s important to carry around unique business cards. And of course, he talked about how he has been able to leverage the concept of limited edition items to his advantage.

To sum things up, the Johnny Cupcakes x Hawaii lecture was awesome. It was everything that I expected and more. I didn’t expect him to take the time to meet with everyone that attended, but he did. Seriously, after the lecture another line formed so that people could meet and chat with Johnny. I probably spent 20 minutes or so chatting with Mr. Cupcakes. He’s a cool dude! There was a lot of information shared by Johnny, a lot of which I will be using and taking advantage of. It was great.

Johnny's mom, Lorraine Earle, works the Pop-Up Shop.

But what’s this about me quitting my day job? You see, I used to do two things. I worked as a neuroscience research specialist (this was my post-doc, something that PhD’s usually automatically do after they spend years working on their PhD’s) and also as a University lecturer. I found out quickly that I loved teaching at the University. I love being a professor. The research part, not so much. It might have been the environment that I was in, but whatever the case, I was not happy at my post-doc. I teach Psychology 100: Introduction to Psychology early in the morning, 8:30am to be exact. When I’m done at 9:30am I’m super stoked about my lecture and interacting with my students. After teaching, I would then go to the lab and do the research stuff for my Post-Doc. I found that at the end of the day I hated everything. I went from loving what I did in the morning to hating the world in the evening. Not good. The Johnny Cupcakes lecture helped me to realize that I was not happy doing what I was doing. I figured that I needed to focus on teaching and becoming a better professor. I needed to focus on getting a full load of courses to teach next semester and the one after that. I needed to focus on finding a regular lecture gig. And so I did. I quit my post-doc – the biggest risk that I’ve ever taken in my life, all because of Johnny Cupcakes. Oh, yeah, and quitting gives me more time to make this blog shine. Fuck yes. Let the hustle begin.

Do More of What Makes You Happy.

Johnny Cupcakes on the left and Coty on the right! We both like to make funny faces.